Continental Hockey League (KHL) - One of Russia’s top centers, Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) finally has a new team. The veteran forward, who finished the season with HC Dynamo after being traded there from HC Kazan was rumored to be going to St. Petersburg’s SKA. Those rumors are proven to have been unfounded, as Zinovjev is now one of the newest high profile acquisitions of the Ufa based club. The club has also acquired Washington Capitals center Viktor Kozlov (Washington Capitals), more than compensating for the off-season losses of Alexei Tereschenko (Dallas Stars) and several other forwards. While undoubtedly a great talent, it remains to be seen how long Zinovjev will remain with his new club, as the forward has had a history of difficult relationships with his employers.

Continental Hockey League (KHL) - The end of the inaugural KHL season could not have been written a better way than this! Well it could have been with more scoring, but a game seven between the league’s two strongest clubs was a great way to finish it after an entertaining series. The somewhat underdog Kazan came up on top, with Alexei Morozov (Pittsburgh Penguins) scoring the only goal in the last period of the game. The club was an underdog since it has lost a few of its top players in the past two seasons including Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins), Alexei Tereschenko (Dallas Stars) and goalie Alexander Eremenko. However, while some of the replacements have not been as impressive a few young players and newcomers have come up big in the series including Andrei Pervyshin (St. Louis Blues) and Nikita Alexeev (Chicago Blackhawks). Pervyshin has been a long time member of Ak Bars after leaving Lokomotiv but only this year has he become a regular contributor at the top level, while Nikita Alexeev (Chicago Blackhawks) has bounced between Russia and NHL, showing signs of immense potential but failing to break-out in either league. Lokomotiv was close to winning the series on several occasions, but the break down point for the club, despite the series continuing for another week must have been the failure to keep the 3:0 lead in game two that was eventually won by Ak Bars after a spectacular come back. Alexei Yashin and a few imported players are the clear leaders of the squad and it will be interesting to see what happens next year and whether Yashin will remain in Russia or return to the NHL after a two season absence.

U20 World Junior Championships - Great match in the marvellous Mega Sport Arena in Moscow as the local Dinamo faced Ak Bars Kazan for an exciting KHL regular season match. A number of prospects have skated in this game for both teams, who had to deal with injuries as Grigory Panin and Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) (Boston Bruins) have been left out from the lineups because of injuries. Ak Bars' featured their new goalkeeper in net, Fredrik Norrena, while Dinamo iced their starting netminder Vitaly Eremeev. (KHL match scout report by Alessandro Seren Rosso exclusive for russianprospects.com) READ MORE

Continental Hockey League (KHL) - Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) signed a contract with HC Dynamo through the rest of the 2008-09 season as a free agent. He became a free agent recently when KHL resolved the conflict between him and his club, Ak Bars, by releasing him. In the current season Zinovjev played 10 games for Ak Bars, where he got 2 (1+1) points, got 8 penalty minutes and had a +/- rating of +3. Sergei is supposed to join his new team after the completion of the First Channel Cup.

Continental Hockey League (KHL) - The best line in the Russian K.H.L. officially broke up over the weekend when the league ruled that Ak Bars Kazan forward Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) was no longer under contract to the team.
Zinoviev, with Ak Bars since 2002-03, centered the league’s top line with Alexei Morozov (Pittsburgh Penguins) and Danis Zapirov on his wings. That same troika also starred for the national team in recent years. But early this season Zinoviev had a run-in with coach Zinetula Bilyayetdinov, who demoted him to the fourth line. Zinoviev eventually filed a grievance with the league, claiming that his wages had also been cut, a move that would void his contract with Ak Bars. The Tatar club denied the charge, but on Saturday the K.H.L. ruled in Zinoviev’s favor, making him a free agent. Ak Bars, who were fined 3 million rubles ($106,000), said they would appeal to a sports arbitration body.
(New York Times article by Jeff Z. Klein)
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U20 ADT Can-Rus Challenge - Not being able to skate for Ak Bars, Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) is reportedly once again entertaining an option to return to the NHL, this time with the Montreal Canadiens. The Boston Bruins still own the player’s rights, so Montreal would have to negotiate with that club before the talented center could sign a deal. However, that is likely the least of the NHL club’s problems, since they would have to weigh long and hard whether Zinovjev is serious about the NHL this time around. The young forward has also had run ins with management of pretty much every club he skated for (broke Spartak’s deal when felt it was time to leave by alleging the free apartment clause wasn’t being honored, left Lokomotiv without fulfilling expectations, left Metallurg Novokuznetsk and then badmouthed the city, etc.). Still, he has skated for quite a few seasons with Ak Bars recently before these difficulties started to surface. In any case, while his NHL arrival is unlikely, it would definitely be an interesting twist in this young player’s entertaining career.

Karjala Cup (EuroTour) - FHR (Russian Hockey Federation) has released the list of the players who will skate for Russia in the forthcoming Karjala Cup, Euro Hockey Tour’s first round, who will be played in Finland from sixth to ninth November. Russia will play the first game at home, in Moscow, against Sweden. Every EHT round has a game scheduled in another country than the organizing one.

The Russian roster features seven players from CSKA Moscow and six from Salavat Yulaev Ufa. The most notable missing player is probably the former Vancouver Canuck Kirill Koltsov.

Continental Hockey League (KHL) - Apparently the rumors whether Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) is happy playing for HC Ak Bars that have been usual at the beginning of each of the past several seasons are up and about once again. The newest twist is that last season’s champions HC Salavat who have recently lured Alexander Radulov (Nashville Predators) from the NHL are looking to acquire Zinovjev. Ak Bars president has denied the rumor, stating that Zinovjev is preparing for the next season in his home town of Novokuznetsk, where he is also recovering from foot surgery. Zinovjev himself was not reached for comments and this potential turn of events is not surprising when considering the young forward’s previous tumulus relationships with his previous clubs HC Spartak (Moscow) and HC Metallurg (Novokuznetsk), both of which he left in a scandal.

Super League - Ak Bars Kazan lost the fourth and deciding semifinals game to Salavat Yulayev, which advanced to the finals. Igor Volkov (New York Islanders) again scored an important goal for Salavat. Sadly, Kazan’s Alexei Morozov (Pittsburgh Penguins) – Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) – Danis Zaripov line remained quiet. Still, Kazan fought hard and forced overtime in this contest, though the extra period ended early when Alexei Tereschenko (Dallas Stars) suddently threw a shot on net from the boards and Eshe was not able to handle it. Salavat advances to the finals to meet Lokomotiv.

Super League - Oleg Tverdovsky (Los Angeles Kings) scored two goals, with Alexei Shkotov (St. Louis Blues) and Igor Volkov (New York Islanders) adding a tally each to help Salavat Yulayev past HC Ak Bars and take the lead in the series. Robert Esche did not have his best game for Kazan, allowing a soft goal on Tverdovsky’s shot early on in the game and then failing to stop a couple of critical shots, including the one by Igor Volkov (New York Islanders), who skated past Andrei Pervyshin (St. Louis Blues) to the slot. Kazan once again depended too much on the top Danis Zaripov – Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) – Alexei Morozov (Pittsburgh Penguins) line and the team was unable to beat Ufa’s stacked lineup. If Salavat wins the next contest, it will advance to the finals for the first time in team history!

Super League - While CSKA’s loss was not shocking, many projected this as being the year that this once famed and now resurrected club would win the whole thing in Russia. Unfortunately it was not meant to be as CSKA faced off against former champ HC Ak Bars in the quarterfinals. Ak Bars, which has significantly more playoff experience soundly defeated CSKA in three straight games. In this last contest CSKA appeared by the score to be closer than before, but not really by the club’s play as Ak Bars was once again very strong. Lowson did not perform that well once again, allowing a soft goal from Oleg Petrov to open the scoring. Defensive prospect Anton Belov was called for fighting towards the end of the first period which led to Kazan’s second goal as Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) skillfully fed Alexei Morozov (Pittsburgh Penguins) on the far side who then on-timed it past Lowson. Belov then made up for his error by scoring early in the second period with a slap shot from the blue line, but the damage was already done. Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) put the final nail in the coffin when Alexei Morozov (Pittsburgh Penguins) stripped Denis Parshin (Colorado Avalanche) behind CSKA’s net and fed Zinovjev in front of the net. But CSKA did not give up, scoring just 20 seconds later on a strong shot by Grigori Misharin (Minnesota Wild) that then hits Evgeny Artyukhin (Tampa Bay Lightning) and floats into Kazan’s net. However, despite a heated battle towards the end of the third period, CSKA is never able to put in the game tying goal and loses 3:2.

Super League - CSKA vs. Ak Bars 0:6 (Series 0:1) – Ak Bars destroyed CSKA with a methodical attack and an impressive performance from the club’s top line (Alexei Morozov – Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) – Danis Zaripov). CSKA’s starter Lowson did not perform well and while Kasutin ably defended CSKA’s net for the last two periods, he still allowed three third period goals, though two were so late in the game that it didn’t really matter that much any more. Robert Esche played very well for Ak Bars, stopping some hard shots, especially from the blue line where CSKA had lurking the owner of the hardest slap shot outside the NHL – Denis Kulyash (Nashville Predators).

Super League - Ten prospects, four of them are not yet drafted, have been iced in the forty-sixth round match of the RSL Khimik – Ak Bars. Like in many of the recent games, Alexander Bumagin (Edmonton Oilers) isn’t dressed for Khimik. The match is played in an almost full Arena Mytischi. Bilyaletdinov has decided to break up the ZZM line in order to equilibrate more the lines, thus Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) will play in the third line while Denis Arkhipov, in the first. READ MORE

Super League - For the fifteenth round of the 07/08 Super League Avangard hosts Ak Bars Kazan for a very interesting match up between the two new Meccas of Russian hockey. For the guests we will see the first RSL start of undrafted Stanislav Galimov, hunting for his first career victory. Bilyaletdinov honors the gala by icing the Danis Zaripov- Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) (Boston Bruins)- Alexei Morozov (Pittsburgh Penguins) (Pittsburgh Penguins) line, arguably the best unit in European hockey. About the hosts, Belousov keeps playing Alexander Popov on the first line instead with Pavel Rosa, icing with Alexei Cherepanov (New York Rangers) and Anton Kuryanov on the second unit.
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Super League - 17 years old Kirill Petrov is one of the highest touted Russian players for the upcoming 2008 draft, along with Nikita Filatov of CSKA. Despite his Moscovite colleague, Petrov is a valuable member of Kazan’s main team. After team's recent crisis, Ak Bars' head coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, former NHL coach, has decided to change the lines a bit in his attempt to shake things up, therefore Kirill plays with Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) and Dmitri Obukhov instead of Mikhail Zhukov (Edmonton Oilers) and Igor Musatov. Playing with Zinovjev is a good opportunity for him to progress and mature, as well as learn some tricks from an experienced and gifted player.
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Super League - HC Ak Bars finally earned a resounding victory over HC Sibir with its top unit ( Alexei Morozov – Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) – Danis Zaripov) having a hadn in five of the club’s six tallies. Nikolai Kulemin (Toronto Maple Leafs) potted two tallies and added an assist in Metallurg’s loss to Salavat Yulayev. Lada won its 6th game in a row behind a hattrick by Anton Krysanov (Phoenix Coyotes). Yuri Alexandrov (Boston Bruins) scored his first tally of the season for Severstal, but it was Trubachev who put in a beauty of a goal in overtime to lead the Cherepovets based club to victory. Sergei Mozyakin (Columbus Blue Jackets) tied for the Super League scoring lead, scoring his 11th goal in a losing overtime effort against HC Vityaz. READ MORE

Super League - 19 prospects (13 properties of NHL teams, 4 undrafted and 2 2008 elegible) were iced in the Ak Bars - Metallurg contest held in Kazan for the third round of the Superleague. The number could be even greater but injuries have kept
Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) and Vladimir Malenkykh (Pittsburgh Penguins) off of the ice. Tampa Bay's Vasily Koshechkin (Tampa Bay Lightning) (Tampa Bay Lightning) is Ak Bars' starter, as the club’s other goalie Mikka Noronen (former Buffalo and Vancouver backup goaltender) was out of action with a broken collar bone. Grigori Shafigulin was Bilyaletdinov's replacement for the injured Zinoviev on the famous ZZM (Zaripov – Zinovjev – Morozov) first line.
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Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) suffered a leg injury and will be sidelined for a month. He was hit by a shot in the leg and broke a bone above the knee. The forward will be off the ice and without any physical excercise for a month and will only then begin practicing.

Russian Super League - The Boston Bruins are reportedly in negotiations again to bring over prospect Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) to rejoin the NHL club. The young forward has enjoyed another productive year in Russia on HC Ak Bars famed top line. He has reportedly re-signed with the Russian club, but due to a lack of an transfer agreement between the NHL and Russia, he may be able to jump ship to NHL if the right offer came along. However, considering his immense earning potential in Russia, it will be a challenge to bring Zinovjev over.

Russian Super League - HC Metallurg stormed back into the series after a sub-par game 2 with a resounding 4:1 victory against the incumbent champions HC Ak Bars. Nikolai Kulemin (Toronto Maple Leafs) tied another scoring record, this time reaching back more than 10 years to Alexander Koreshkin, who also scored 36 goals during the 1994-95 season. Ak Bars top line consisting of Alexei Morozov (Pittsburgh Penguins) – Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) – Danis Zaripov has not been impressive, and at times looked tired and out of place despite immense talent and ability. Defenseman Evgeni Varlamov was another hero of the game for HC Metallurg, scoring the club’s first two goals. READ MORE

Russian Super League - HC Metallurg (Magnitogorsk) edged Ak Bars (Kazan) in the first game of the best of five final series for the Super League Championship. The Magnitogorsk club accomplished this behind a strong performance from the its top two lines centered by Jan Marek and Alexei Kaigorodov (Phoenix Coyotes). Nikolai Kulemin (Toronto Maple Leafs) did most of the scoring, notching two of his club tallies. Kazan also had a hard time containing the Kaigorodov – Gusmanov tendem, as the two caused a lot of trouble for the 2006 champions. The final score was 5:2 in favor of Metallurg. Kulemin (2), Kaigorodov, Gusmanov and Kudrna scored for Metallurg, while Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) and Vladimir Vorobiev tallied for Kazan.

Russian Super League - Center Dmitri Kazionov (Tampa Bay Lightning) replaced ill Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) on HC Ak Bars top line, scoring a goal and assisting on another in the 3:1 victory. Linemate Denis Zaripov had the following to say about Kazionov’s promotion in an interview Gazeta.ru’s Ildus Shamilov:

Russian Super League - St. Louis Blues prospect Evgeniy Skachkov(St. Louis Blues) continues career season, this time helping HC Traktor salvage a 2:2 tie with HC SKA by scoring one and assisting on the other tally. This is the young 81born prospect’s most productive season with 29 goals thus far. Alexei Mikhnov(Edmonton Oilers) scored his first goal since returning to Russia from the Edmonton Oilers. The young forward skated with two other centers Artem Anisimov(New York Rangers) and Gennady Churilov(undrafted) on HC Lokomotiv’s third line. Former Swift Current Broncos forward Danis Zaripov(undrafted) scored five goals in the 8:2 trouncing of HC MVD. Boston Bruins prospect Sergei Zinovjev(Boston Bruins) assisted on four of the five tallies. READ MORE

Russian Super League - Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) is expected to miss at least two more weeks with an ailing hip. The young forward reportedly hurt the hip a few weeks back in December, but continued to play on it until succumbing to the pain during the Champions tournament in St. Petersburg. He is now being treated for the strain in Kazan.

Russian Super League - Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) has reportedly been involved in a car accident during the past two weeks. The young center was not seriously injured and did not miss any HC Ak Bars contests.

From "Take Your Pick" article by Matt Kalman (hockeyjournal.com)
From Russia with game?Back in 2003-04, Sergei Zinovjev registered one assist in 10 games for Boston and 1-2-3 totals in four games with Providence before returning to his native Russia. The B’s third-round pick in 2000 showed some offensive power with 15-26-41 totals in 43 games this season with Ak Bars Kazan, and he also scored the game-winning goal when his team captured the Russian League title. Perhaps Boston, which was desperate for offense most of the second half of the 2005-06 season, would be interested in bringing back the restricted free agent.

Russian Super League - Despite the penalties and no longer having the home advantage, Ak Bars clinched the Super League championship with a convincing victory, shutting out Avangard in just three games. The Morozov - Zinovjev READ MORE

Russian Super League - Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) will spend the 2005-06 season in Russia. Bruins assistant manager Jeff Gorton had the following to say regarding Zinovjev in an interview with the Boston Herald: ``He wants assurances that he'll be in the NHL and we're not prepared to do that. He makes a lot of money over there, and we can't match that kind of money for him to play in Providence.'' The Bruins will continue to hold Zinovjev’s rights for another year, and it remains to be seen if the young forward will test his ability in the NHL during the 2006-07 season.

Sergei Zinovjev is one of the 13 players who is a restricted free agent, but whose rights are owned by the Boston Bruins. The young forward is in quite exclusive company, with the likes of Joe Thornton and Nick Boyton. It is unclear whether Zinovjev will attend Bruins camp this year, but he did express serious interest two years ago prior to leaving Boston for Kazan. Zinovjev still has a lot left to prove, and it appears that he has already proven everything he can in Russia.

World Championships - Sergei Zinovjev’s (Boston Bruins) departure from the Russian national team after suffering a concussion against the Swedes at the EuroTour finals proved incorrect, as the young forward has been reported as part of the squad’s lineup at the World Championships. He was in the reserves during the first game against Austria, but is expected to join the team in the near future.

World Championships - Despite winning the Euro Cup for the first time, the Russian national team lost today Denis Kulyazh (Nashville Predators) and Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins). Zinovjev suffered a concussion with a partial loss of memory after a collision that was unable to prepare for. He had to be helped off the ice by the club’s trainer and doctor. The loss is especially heavy for Russia, as Zinovjev has been highly effective on the line with Ilya Kovalchuk (Atlanta Thrashers)

Unfortunately, Russia’s losses did not end with Zinovjev, as Alexander Skugarev was another center who left the team after suffering a shoulder injury. Also suffering a shoulder injury was Denis Kulyazh, who until the injury had a very good training camp and both Euro Tour finals games. The young defenseman has really made strides this season and has become one of the best up and coming defensemen currently in Russia.

The Russian Hockey Federation's disciplinary committee listened to the case presented by Ak Bars management in an effort to reduce Zinovjev's disqualification period due to failing a drug test last spring. The court ruled against the shortening of the period, maintaining that Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) has to serve the entire disqualification until Aug. 25th. Before that date he may not play in any games for Ak Bars, but may practice with the club.

World Championships - Rumor Central: Zinovjev’s departure from Team Russia not drug related
A rumor is circulating around Russia that Zinovjev’s departure from Russia’s national team may not have been because of

Boston Bruins player Sergei Zinovjev will return to Russia for the rest of the 2003-04 season. It is unclear whether he will return for the 2004-05 campaign. Related Article: Money talks, so rookie Zinovjev walks

10/24/2003

The Boston Bruins recalled prospect Sergei Zinovjev from their AHL affiliate in Providence, MA. Zinovjev was late to the training camp due to visa issues, and the two sides agreed that he would spend an extra two weeks in the minors before Boston made their decision regarding the young prospect. After a successful series of games, Zinovjev appears to have proven himself and will likely remain in the NHL.

10/16/2003

Sergei Zinovjev has reached an agreemend with the Boston Bruins and has accepted an assignment to the Bruins AHL affiliate in Providence. The talented center registered two assists in his first game in the AHL.

10/08/2003

NHL Training Camp Updates: The Boston Bruins management is currently negotiating with Sergei Zinovjev for the player to accept an evaluation assignment to their AHL affiliate in Providence, MA. Management claims that due to visa issues, the club did not have adequate time to evaluate the young forward's potential during the training camp.

09/20/2003

Boston Bruins prospect Sergei Zinovjev finally arrived in Boston after severl weeks of visa problems. According to his interview with the Soviet Sport newspaper, the visa request was lost in the mail on it's way to his home town, Novokuznetsk. Zinovjev should join the Boston squad by the next preseason match.

8/12/2003

Boston Bruins newest member, Sergei Zinovjev, continues to stay in shape by playing with Ak Bars Kazan during the preseason. He has been centering the second line.

7/10/2003

Boston Bruins signed the 23 year old prospect Sergei Zinovjev to a two year contract today.

Sergei Zinovjev does most things well on the ice. His main downside is his smallish stature

Back In Russia:

Sergei started his career in Novokuznetsk, Russia. He spen his entire career until the 00-01 season with Metallurg 00-01: Prior to the 00-01 season, Sergei signed a one year contract with Lokommotiv Yaroslavl. There were a lot of expectations of him breaking out that year, but it did not happen during the regular season, though he did deliver a respectable performance. In the playoffs, Lokomotiv loaned Sergei to the Salavat Yulayev in Ufa. There he got a lot more ice time on the team’s top line with former NHLer Alexander Semak and was second to Alexander on the team in scoring with eight points. 01-02: After the conclusion of the 2000-01 season, Sergei signed a two year contract with Spartak Moscow. During the season he established himself as one of the best centers in Russian hockey. He usually centered Spartak’s second or third line and always got a lot of ice time. His game seemed to come together with Spartak. He also spent some time on the same line with another promising Spartak center, Dmitri Semin. His performance with Spartak merited him an invitation to the Russian senior National team, with which he competed at the Sweden Games, Baltica Cup and Karjala Cup legs of the EuroTour. He mainly played on the team’s fourth line and did not stand out. 02-03: The 2002-03 season did not start for Sergei right note. During the off season, he attempted to anull the second year of his contract with Spartak and sign with Ak Bars. His reasoning behind the annulment was that Spartak did not deliver on all their promises stipulated in the contract, namely the apartment he was supposed to have been provided in Moscow’s downtown. The team countered the argument by displaying evidence that they did offer Sergei an apartment, but that Sergei declined it’s use. The Russian Federation of Hockey found the case in favor of Spartak, obligating Sergei to play with the team for another season. He at the time was already practicing with Ak Bars, which was fined for fielding a player who had an active contract with another team.

NHL Outlook:

The Boston Bruins made Sergei a surprise pick in the third round, 73rd pick overall on the first day of the draft. Rumor had it that Boston did not closely scout Sergei, but heard that another team was going to draft Sergei earlier in the draft and chose to take him first. Thus far their move seems to have been very wise. Sergei has become one of the best NHL prospects still playing in Russia. He doesn’t play soft hockey and would probably adjust well to North America. He would fit well on Boston’s second line in a couple of years. If he does not attend Boston’s training camp this year, he will be a lock after another strong season in Russia.